When Zenonia first came out, I was ecstatic. Here, finally, was a “real” RPG, based in a 2D world that brought back fond memories of Gameboy titles. Since then, the field has changed; as developers adapt to the iPhone platform, we’re seeing more and more similar games being released. Recently, Seed 1 – Rise of Darkness burst into the App Store, claiming to be a “Zenonia killer.”

Unfortunately, I have my doubts about that. If anything, it’ll be Seed’s price point that kills Zenonia; Chillingo just slashed the games “introductory price” of $2.99 down to free, choosing to rely solely on in-app purchases for revenue. And for a free game, Seed is absolutely fantastic. But price point aside, Seed is a port of a Japanese mobile game, and the transition was far from graceful. Blurry graphics, choppy animations, and a bad translation job make for a tedious and sometimes frustrating experience despite the game’s good points. Seed is a mediocre RPG, and while it may be worth the space on your iPod, it’s a good thing it’s free. If you want a more polished RPG that’s not a series of endless fetch-quests, try Zenonia or Inotia 2.

Seed begins predictably. You play as an overeager, annoying teenage boy named Litta from a small town who wants to “adventure in the Continent” and is desperate to leave his hometown. When you start a new file, Litta is magically trained in four different weapons: the lance, gun, sword, and (magical!) staff. The dialogue is either badly written or horribly translated, but at least you get exposed to one of Seed’s good features, which is that each character has no “class” and can instead wield any weapon family. A few more blurbs of atrocious text and you’re sneaking aboard a ship to the Continent.

Seed’s plot is actually decent, if you put a bit of time into it. Once you get to the mainland, you’re quickly assigned to a job as a spy, and political machinations are clearly at work. Sure, Litta annoys to me to no end and the English translation job is shoddy, but there’s a half-decent structure to Seed’s plot. As much as I loved Zenonia, it wasn’t exactly original. Seed gets some points in my book for trying. The biggest drawback with the plot is that your involvement is mostly limited to the endless litany of fetch-quests. Yuck. I’ve yet to accept a quest that didn’t involve me fetching ten of this or fifteen of that.

But Seed is still an action-RPG, and it’s the action that kills it. The virtual D-pad used in Seed is horribly unresponsive. At least Zenonia’s felt fast and fluid; in Seed, I spend most of my time running into walls and enemies that I’d meant to avoid. Combat is also a bummer. For one thing, it’s unbalanced; at early levels mages will die far too often, while at later ones, ranged magic is indispensable. The main problem, however, is how jerky everything is. I feel like the framerate was scaled way too far down for the iPhone, and as a result, attacking an enemy generates serious lag. (For the record, I’m on a second-generation iPod Touch.) On the bright side, being able to switch freely between all four classes of weapons at any time is an awesome feature, and I wish it was a more common one.

Seed certainly does contain other much-appreciated elements, like the quick-save button in the top-left of the screen and the “hotkey” positions on the screen for triggering certain attacks or items. Being able to actually tap on menu items is a much-appreciated inclusion as well. But again, there’s a clear lack of technical polish, and the icons are often too small to comfortably tap. Other factors like skill customization and a day/night cycle (tougher enemies and more EXP can be found at night) add to Seed’s strengths.

One more thing: the Seed “Shop.” Seed was formerly $2.99, and is now permanently free; needless to say, this has ruffled quite a few feathers, but what’s done is done. The Seed Shop has always been included but is now the sole money-maker in the game, and includes DLC that can be added to your save file via in-app purchasing. It’s mostly bonus goodies rather than power-pumping armor, and included items vary from inventory expansions to warp gate cards. You don’t need any of it to play, but it’s a way to avoid grinding. Just keep in mind that paid items can’t be transferred between save files!

So, at the end of the day, is this a “Zenonia killer”? Nope, and it’s not really trying to be, though large chunks of structure are cloned directly from that game. Seed is what it is: a free, mediocre RPG that’s truly a mixed bag. Some will love it; others will hastily delete it. It wasn’t quite worth $2.99, but for free, every RPG lover should at least give it a shot. Then you can go for a more polished game like Zenonia or Inotia 2. (Normally I try not to draw comparisons, but when Seed boasts about “killing” Zenonia, I figure I might as well do so.)

One thing is certainly clear, whatever you think of the game: it’s an exciting time to be an iPhone/iPod gamer. Who knows what RPG goodness we’ll get next?

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-12-09 :: Category: Games

Twi

…What surprises me the MOST, is that you didn't mention the fact that if one dies, they go back to the menu and have to start all the way back from when they last saved, and that it takes a long time to load. I still loved SEED 1… I spent $2 in the shop.

peet

i hear a lot of complaining about the lag and speed of the game, but i have absolutly no problem with that. i have a 3g ipod touch (32gb) and seed runs perfectly even on the fastest speed. i have not once had a problem with the controls, in fact i like them more than zenonia. (zenonia has only one button, and its kinda small).the best part of this game for me is the speed option. if i am in an intense battle with a monster with a way higher level than me, i turn down the speed and get strategic. but if im in a “fetch” quest (yes, there are a bit of those but not all quests are like it) then i turn the speed up to high and im done in thirty seconds. all in all, i think this game has an amazing item system and the graphics and gameplay are not too bad either.i love how you find some items in nature that you can combine into a “sorcerers stone”, which can then be combined with any number of alchemy powders to create a crystal, which can then be attached to a weapon by means of a socket. if this seems too complicated to you, wait untill you start mixing and matching your weapons and crystals to find the perfect match. its addicting O_Oany ways, these are my contributions to what i think is a pretty lacking review of what i think is an outstanding game (especially for the price!)

peet

i hear a lot of complaining about the lag and speed of the game, but i have absolutly no problem with that. i have a 3g ipod touch (32gb) and seed runs perfectly even on the fastest speed. i have not once had a problem with the controls, in fact i like them more than zenonia. (zenonia has only one button, and its kinda small).
the best part of this game for me is the speed option. if i am in an intense battle with a monster with a way higher level than me, i turn down the speed and get strategic. but if im in a “fetch” quest (yes, there are a bit of those but not all quests are like it) then i turn the speed up to high and im done in thirty seconds.
all in all, i think this game has an amazing item system and the graphics and gameplay are not too bad either.
i love how you find some items in nature that you can combine into a “sorcerers stone”, which can then be combined with any number of alchemy powders to create a crystal, which can then be attached to a weapon by means of a socket. if this seems too complicated to you, wait untill you start mixing and matching your weapons and crystals to find the perfect match. its addicting O_O
any ways, these are my contributions to what i think is a pretty lacking review of what i think is an outstanding game (especially for the price!)

Review disclosure: note that the product reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note that if the developer provides the product or not, this does not impact the review or score.

Latest Posts

I am eager to let readers know about Oceanhouse Media’s annual app sale in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday from Wednesday, February 25 through Monday, March 9. During this time, five of their best-selling Seuss stories will be on sale for $0.99 each, and there will be discounts for other classic Dr. Seuss titles as […]